City of Bones
by I Suffer From Hubris
Summary: Carrie Vane was a seemingly normal teenage girl until she crossed paths with a strange blond guy at a Halloween party hosted by the club Pandemonium, and now finds herself thrust into a world much darker than she ever fathomed. ADAPTED FROM CITY OF BONES, LOOSELY BASED. AU. Language. Retake on City of Bones and my previous Revised Edition, new characters, name changes.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Here it is, my long-awaited and highly changed version of City of Bones: Revised Edition. It's loosely adapted from _City of Bones_ by Cassandra Clare, a book that I am in no way affiliated with.  
**

**NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED. This is ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. SET ASIDE EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ORIGINAL _City of Bones, _AND ENJOY!**

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**City of Bones**

by I Suffer From Hubris

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**Prologue**

The tall, imposing man stood alone in his bedchamber, pulling on the jacket of his custom-tailored Italian suit. Looking into a mirror for reference, he adjusted the lapels and smoothed his tie, followed shortly thereafter with his hair. The pale blond waves, nearly white in color, always refused to do anything but flop in his face, and it appeared that today was no different. With tired exasperation, he successfully gelled them back off his forehead, subsequently stepping back from the mirror and giving himself a sharp-eyed inspection to ensure that he looked every bit as presentable as he did normally. A life fraught with disappointment and endless toil- of the mental _and_ physical varieties- to achieve his ends had begun to take its toll on him in recent years, although, he suspected, not as badly as it would have for many of his contemporaries. He could handle it quite well, at least by his own estimation, and his many personal luxuries helped alleviate some of the stress. The endless number of pinstriped suits, for example.

Just as he was buttoning his jacket of one of those very suits and pondering what disappointments today would bring (and, naturally, how he could work around them and fix whatever would be messed up today; he really needed a new team of underlings who might actually be _useful_ for once), someone burst through his door.

Startled, the man was distracted from re-adjusting his necktie. A small, panting sprite stood in the threshold to his chamber, obviously winded. The elf-like creature took a moment to catch his breath, during which the towering man contemplated impatiently what this interruption could mean.

Then, the being, so little in comparison, spoke to him, effectively drawing his musing to an end. "Sir… We've found them."

Could it be, after so long? He had to make sure that this faerie wasn't wasting his time with nonsense. "_Found_ them? Found who?"

"You know…" the sprite said, confusedly looking up at him from across the room. "Casper and Daphne."

The man's pulse quickened considerably. Was this the day? "Truly?"

"Of course, sir. We successfully located them just a few minutes ago, so I ran here straightaway to tell you."

"Well." He had wondered many times over the years what this day would be like, and how he would feel upon receiving the news. This was everything he had hoped for, and an integral part of fulfilling his greater plan for numerous reasons. "Where are they?"

"New York City, sir."

He should have known. Somehow, it suited Daphne especially well, and Casper would have followed her anywhere. "How convenient. I suppose I'll go earlier than I had planned." He was due to visit that same city in America in just over a week to reconnect with some old allies, but this simplified _everything_. He couldn't have asked for them to be in a better location.

Suddenly, the sprite looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight nervously. "There is… something else that we discovered, sir."

"Tell me later," he commanded, beginning to pack some of his things in a whirlwind of elated anticipation.

The sprite sighed. "Yes, sir." Then, his voice grew worried. "Wait. You _can't_ leave tonight!"

"Why not?" he asked, still packing. Finally, he remembered. "Oh, of course. The conference." He was due to speak to a large gathering of potential supporters later that evening, but he had already decided that this new change of plans was far more important. "You'll have to speak to them for me, my friend."

"_What?_ M-me? I… I can't!"

The tall man gave him a resolute look, and said slowly, "You'll do fine."

His words seemed to convince the sprite enough, as the creature visibly gave up resistance to the idea. He slumped his shoulders, defeated. "And what will I say to them, sir?"

"The truth. Tell them that I will be their liberation."

"As you wish, sir."

"I knew that I could count on you." And with that, Victor Dieudonné was even more confident than he had been minutes before that he would finally execute his plans without error and in a timely fashion.

It had been a long time in the making, after all. He deserved nothing less.

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**A/N: And onto the first chapter! It's already up! What are you waiting for? Review this and then get right to reading it. ;)**


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: Alright. Now, before the first chapter, I shall announce that there are major changes from the City of Bones (and Revised Edition, my former work) that you know and love. Names have been changed. Characters have been added. Personalities and/or appearances may have been tweaked. Just keep in mind that this is ADAPTED from _City of Bones_ by Cassandra Clare, and should be thought of as an independent take on her book. That being said, I hope you all enjoy it.**

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**City of Bones**

by I Suffer From Hubris

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**Book I**

"_The jaws of darkness do devour it up:  
So quick bright things come to confusion."_

_-William Shakespeare, _A Midsummer Night's Dream

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**Chapter One**

"_As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host, but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way, and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements, that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table- the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone."_

_-F. Scott Fitzgerald, _The Great Gatsby

I stood in front of a mirror, applying a heavy layer of eyeliner as my best friends, twins Maddie and Simon Walker, performed their usual twin-squabbling-routine and their little sister, Brittany, was hopelessly trying to break it up.

We were going out to a "super-fab" (or so claimed the advertisements, at least; I begged to differ) club for teenagers, Pandemonium, since they were hosting Costume Night in lieu of Halloween that Friday. It was a Tuesday evening, so we were planning that it wouldn't be too crowded with the dregs of society usually found at clubs.

The only reason that we were going to a club on what would have been a school night is that our high school, the ultra-Catholic yet alternative prep school, St. Xavier's Academy for the Arts, decided randomly to give us the week off.

It was one of the perks of going to an artsy prep school- you never knew when they were going to unexpectedly gift you with a late-October break.

We'd never been to Pandemonium before, but I assumed it would be like the middle school dances I'd reluctantly attended as a preteen. Pounding music, dim lighting, and all that jazz. Not very promising. On the other hand, this was an establishment that essentially made money for its dances, so it couldn't be that bad, right? And it was Costume Night, so that was going to be a lot of fun on its own.

Deeming my makeup satisfactory, I went to fiddling with the light brown, very long tangle known as my hair, while Maddie was still up to chastising Simon like she usually did. "Come on, Bitch-Ass, hold still." From what I could see behind me in the mirror, she was trying to shove a pair of earmuffs onto her nearly identical twin's head, but he ducked out of the way.

"No!" Simon said, normal tone of petulance in his voice. "I can put it on myself, woman!" He yanked them out of her hand, scowling, and put them on his head. "But I don't understand why you're making me wear these. He didn't even have them until the end of the movie."

The Walker twins had decided upon going as Donnie Darko: Simon in his school uniform, Maddie in his Halloween getup. Simon was already wearing a rainbow slinky around his neck, but the earmuffs really made his costume. Maddie, meanwhile, pulled a gray sweatshirt over her skeleton jumpsuit and put the hood up, trying out a crazed grin in the mirror at me.

I laughed, since it was a pretty good imitation from the movie, and resumed arranging my very long hair. Their costumes were very close to the actual ones and therefore awesome, the only things different being their glasses. Maddie's were normal, rectangle-framed ones, and Simon's were the complete opposite— fire-engine red Buddy Holly glasses. But if anyone could pull them off, even when dressed like Donnie Darko, it was Simon.

Maddie turned back to him, a bit exasperatedly. "Well, you're going to wear them, damn it, and better yet, you're going to fucking _enjoy_ it." Maddie was always foul-mouthed. Although she may have seemed callous on the surface, I knew that the twins had an inseparable sibling bond.

And then there was Brittany, their "baby sister", who always fruitlessly and without fail tried to make everyone get along. "Come on, guys," she said, a tad predictably, awkwardly twitching one of her half-raised arms, "there's no need to fight…" The Walker kids had the unique situation of being what I liked to call 'Irish triplets' (as opposed to 'Irish twins'- well, there were _three_ of them). Maddie and Simon were actual, fraternal twins, and Brittany was their half-sister who was coincidentally born in the same calendar year. It was all chalked up to their mother and her _profession_, but more on that later.

Being an only child, sometimes I envied them a bit. They always had each other for company, whereas whenever I was lonely, all I had was my pet cat, Ryan, and my mostly absent mother, occasionally supplanted by her non-boyfriend, Parker, who was basically the only father figure I ever knew. I had always wanted siblings when I was little, but the Walker 'triplets' helped to fill the void. They had lived next door for as long as we all were alive, and over the years, we had gotten used to spending most waking moments in each other's companies.

"We're not fighting," Maddie and Simon claimed innocently.

Brittany gave them a questioning look, but let the matter drop. I couldn't tell what her costume was supposed to be, and she hadn't given any indication. All I could see was a winter hat with long flaps in the shape of a stuffed panda, and otherwise normal clothing.

I decided to ask her. "Brit, what on earth are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a wolf in panda's clothing," she declared brightly. Typical Brittany, the strange girl that she was. Added to her obsession with John Lennon, the youngest Walker certainly made a fascinating character study.

"Sure you are," I grinned, giving my reflection one last glance and then going over to sit on the edge of the twins' bunk bed to put on a pair of vintage black shoes with a slight heel. My costume was my take on 1960s mod fashion, complete with a black-and-white mini dress that was a bit short for my usual style. So that I wouldn't feel completely exposed, I was also donning a pair of black tights. Overall, I thought that my costume looked relatively nice and accurate. My hair wasn't _exactly_ mod, as it was too curly, long, and in my opinion, _luscious_, but I was past the point of caring. "So, are we going soon, or what?" I asked, getting to my feet and instinctively meeting my own gaze in the mirror. I didn't usually wear makeup, but the excessive eyeliner of the '60s didn't look bad on me at all.

"Just a minute," Maddie said, tossing an errant sock on the floor into Simon's closet, where it landed among droves of odd clothing. He'd gone through a bizarre phase starting at nine and lasting until fourteen that apparently required him to constantly wear fedoras, bowties, and white pants (or khakis, but that was only for special occasions). Thankfully, he'd outgrown it, but they kept his old clothes around in case the situation called for them. Brittany, meanwhile, _still_ wore almost exclusively white pants or khakis, as much as she frequently tried to deny it. "Alright. Let's go." I grabbed my black leather jacket off the floor and tugged it on so that I wouldn't freeze to death on the brief walk to Pandemonium.

We four set off on the familiar journey down the stairs of the Walker house, and were greeted with the also-familiar sight of the Walkers' mother, Peggy, watching television in the living room. _Jerry Springer_, by the looks of it. She barely glanced up at the sound of us coming downstairs, as she was too absorbed in the show (and her cigarette), although her nose twitched, as it always did when she subconsciously sensed her children's presences. Then she did a double-take at all of us, and blew a trail of smoke out of her mouth.

"What the hell are you wearing?" she said in her gravelly voice that came from years of chain smoking. Peggy was decked out in her usual brand of highly suggestive, brightly colored clothing, her five-inch platform heels propped up on an ottoman.

Simon said wearily, "We're going to a costume party, Mother."

"Not that _you_ care, bitch," Maddie tacked on with a sarcastically sweet smile. "You're probably just waiting for your next _appointment_."

Peggy gave her an equally mordant grin. "Not that _you_ care, bitch," she mocked, unfazed at her daughter's insinuation.

I severely disliked their mother, especially her choice of occupation (I'll give you a hint: it's illegal in the United States, and is not "drug dealer"). But she helped me to be thankful for my own mother, in a way. Even though Daphne was rarely around, Peggy was a far worse role model. I plastered a smile on my face, playing the role of the grateful guest perfectly, as I always did. "Hello, Ms. Walker."

Her lipsticked lips spread into a wider grin, this time directed at me. "Carrie. Give my regards to Daphne."

Of _course,_ she would mention my mother. The two were casual friends, probably because they were single mothers with teenaged children in high school. And they had been next-door-neighbors for eighteen years. "Will do."

The three of us walked through the kitchen and out the door, Brittany calling over her shoulder, "We'll be home later."

"I won't," Peggy called back.

As we descended to the sidewalk, we were met by the crisp air of early autumn. I zipped up my leather jacket halfway as Simon said, "I can't believe her. You would think that after all these years, she'd at least _act_ like she has some semblance of maternal instincts."

I reached up and patted his shoulder sympathetically. "It's alright. And hey, cheer up. We're going to a Halloween party! How terrible can it be?" I was being optimistic, simultaneously hoping that my statement wouldn't backfire later.

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged, which turned into a shiver. "I'm cold," he complained to his older sister, pouting. "Why, in God's name, didn't you tell me to wear my coat?"

"I felt like it," she said noncommittally, which made me smile.

"But it's so _cold_ out here," Simon protested indignantly.

Brittany reminded him, "You know, we're almost there."

Simon _did_ look like he was freezing, as he was wearing a thin white button-down shirt over a white T-shirt with navy dress pants, and since it had to be about fifty degrees outside.

"At least your ears are warm," I pointed out, grinning, referencing his gray earmuffs.

"Good point," he admitted, unfazed.

I laughed exuberantly as we strolled, the brisk fall breeze blowing some of my extremely long hair off my shoulder. They say that waist-length hair doesn't exist anymore, but those idiots obviously haven't met me. I just let my hair keep growing, and even when it went past my elbows, I didn't feel the need to cut it. I loved my hair that long, and it actually wasn't hard to manage, since I let my natural waves rule. The only time I was ever annoyed with it was when it was air-drying, which took hours on end but was ultimately worth it.

I noticed something. "Maddie, you're being awfully quiet."

I glanced behind me to where she was standing, and found her surreptitiously glancing around. "I'm just keeping an eye out for Creeper," she said by means of explanation. Poor Maddie was being haunted lately by an ex-boyfriend who couldn't move on after she refused to sleep with him. Maddie had promptly dumped him, but he didn't seem to get the memo.

Seeing her (and "Simon's") unsuccessful dating life gave me all the more reason _not_ to date in high school at all. That, and there was pressure- even at our _Catholic_ school- to have premarital sex, which I was firmly against, from a religious standpoint as well as a practical one. I could have had a boyfriend if I wanted one, but I honestly wasn't attracted to anyone I knew, quite possibly because no one met my picky standards. That, and I didn't want to waste my time dating people there was no chance I'd end up marrying.

Our walk took us down a few blocks until we hit an intersection. And, surely enough, diagonally across from where we stood lay a long, low building whose neon sign above proclaimed, "PANDEMONIUM". A long line of kids in costumes was formed, and my excitement grew. Maybe this would be fun after all. I looked to the 'triplets', and found them just as starry-eyed as me.

"Behold Pandemonium," I announced after we crossed two streets and stood on the sidewalk, peering up through the light of streetlamps to the brightly-colored sign.

"Wow," Simon said with a note of disgust. I curiously looked his way, and found him staring at the lengthy line leading up to the door. "We'll be standing in the cold for ages."

"Aw, don't be a pessimist," Brittany said.

Maddie added, "We won't be waiting as long, Bitch-Ass, if we get in line."

He delivered his catch phrase, "Good point," and we all stepped into the end of the line, behind thirty or so other teenagers.

Most of them seemed to be on the brink of adulthood, like me. I only had a few months to go until I hit eighteen. Not that you would know it, of course, as I looked young for my age, but the fact of the matter was that I _was_ seventeen and three-quarters, and therefore older than all three Walkers. Brittany was the youngest, as she had just had her seventeenth birthday earlier that month.

Overall, it appeared to be a varied assortment of teenagers in line at the club, some older, some younger. Still, it was rather hard to tell through the costumes everyone was wearing.

One costume in particular caught my attention, approximately five people ahead of us. It was a boy, probably around college age, who had electric blue, spiky hair. He was wearing a red plastic jacket, zipped up partially to reveal a gray shirt, and white leather pants. Go-go boots, too. Disgusting! What was he supposed to be, anyway?

I winced and said quietly to my best friends, accidentally interrupting the twins' bickering, "Do you see that guy in the stupid costume?"

"Which one?" Maddie said with a laugh.

"Red jacket," I prompted, scrutinizing him further. He had something in his hands, what looked like a poorly-made wooden stake. This guy practically _reeked_ of bad cosplay.

The twins shuddered in unison upon seeing him, and Brittany even made a noise of revulsion. Maddie took the initiative to speak the near-identical thoughts of all three of them, as she usually did. "What a lame-ass costume," she summed up.

"I wonder what he's supposed to be," Simon remarked contemplatively, looking on.

I said, "Looks like something from a half-rate anime." One about dragons and other fantastical beasts. But in a pseudo-modern setting, judging from his getup.

"Whatever it is, I've certainly never heard of it," concluded Maddie, shaking her head in scholarly meditation. And that was surprising, coming from Anime Connoisseur Maddie.

I felt a witty comment coming on, so I unleashed it. "Or maybe it's just that bad of a costume interpretation."

Simon laughed, and nodded rapidly. "There _is_ always that," he conceded, voice still choked with giggles.

Suddenly, the oddly dressed boy turned his head in our direction, almost as if he sensed that we were talking about him. Simon flinched, Maddie hissed, Brittany froze, and I blankly stared at him under a pretense of normalcy. As I watched, a strange sensation came over me, almost as if the world was tilting below my feet. I clutched at Maddie for support, but as I watched the boy with the red jacket, his eyes turned from brown to antifreeze green, and I could now see a row of pointy, shark-like teeth that jutted his lips out. I was about to cry out, but then the feeling faded and he seemed… normal again.

Brown eyes, regularly-sized teeth.

Nothing of what I'd seen a moment before.

Had I just… hallucinated?

Like, 'realistically hallucinated' hallucinated?

"Carrie?" Simon worried, shaking my shoulder gently to get my attention. "Earth to Catherine Renee Vane…"

I snapped out of my uncharacteristically simplistic thoughts immediately, and masked everything with a confident smirk. "Why, something wrong?"

"_Carrie_," he said warningly.

"What, _Mother_?"

"You know what I mean!" he insisted, flapping an arm for emphasis.

Maddie got that look on her face that she did whenever she was going to say something ridiculous. I braced for impact. "Maybe she just saw someone that she thinks is _cu-ute_," she said in a singsong way.

I quirked an eyebrow. "What on earth would make you think _that_?" I hadn't looked like I was attracted to anyone there, had I? I _wasn't_, so I probably hadn't—

"Aw, come on," she teased. "I _know_ that there's a sex drive trapped behind those dewy blue eyes and button nose. You just need to find your ultimate Golden Boy to unlock it for you."

This was base treachery. It wasn't nearly the first time that she had insinuated anything so ludicrous, but in _public_? "No!" I protested, pouting without thinking about it. I couldn't help it; whenever she implied something like that, I automatically regressed back to seven years old instead of seventeen (…going on eighteen), akin to the Lolita-type of anime cliché that I was, although it was accidental on my part. I even fit the bill physically, what with my porcelain doll features. It was a subject of annoyance to me, actually, as it made people judge me unnecessarily and waiters ask if I wanted a kids' menu far too often. And I still had trouble getting into R-rated movies.

Brittany was opening her mouth and was definitely about to say something disapproving when a group of teenagers got into line behind us. Simon seemed momentarily dazed, so, naturally, I sneaked a quick peek at the newcomers over my shoulder. Maddie was more obvious, completely turning around for a second.

That seemed a bit rude, so I anchored myself until I was half-facing the front of the line and half-facing the back. I tilted my head in the siblings' direction, and began, "Anyway—"

-And was promptly cut off. By Simon. Who had gotten an alarming look on his face and turned his back to us until he was opposite a rather good-looking young man wearing a dark Dracula cape. His hair was shaggy and black, and underneath the cape, he was dressed in tight leather pants, a purple tank top, and combat boots. "Hi," Simon said in a weird voice. "I'm Walker… Erm, _Simon_ Walker."

I stifled a snort, and his twin face-palmed next to me. Brittany just looked like she was pretending not to know any of us. The guy, however, was pleased, as a huge smirk spread across his face. "I'm Atticus," he said by way of introduction. Simon was bisexual, and incidentally could sniff out gay men from a mile away. This Atticus didn't exactly seem closeted, what with his outfit, so it made sense that Simon was trying to hit on him.

Simon, virtually dripping with awkward excuses for charm, grabbed his hand and shook it for a few seconds. "Nice to meet you."

He, Atticus, surprisingly didn't retract his hand from his shake for a while. "You too. Donnie Darko, eh?"

Simon opened his mouth to excitedly reply, but Maddie pulled him away by his ear, hissing in it so quietly that only I could hear, "Alright, Bitch-Ass, give the poor boy a break. Save your damn flirting for when I've actually taught you how to properly _apply_ it."

"But—" he protested audibly.

"No buts."

I tried not to look as amused as I felt, but it was half-hearted. Despite what had happened earlier with the hallucination and what with Maddie being absurd, I was in a good mood.

Until I saw a highly interested pair of light brown eyes trained on me. From a boy. At the end of the line.

Startled, I widened my eyes and hid behind my hair, shaking it out to cover that side of my face. Nevertheless, my curiosity was piqued, so I hesitantly looked around it and found him _still_ staring at me.

I made a haughty expression and exaggeratedly faced the front of the line. I didn't need any creepers staring at me. It was bad enough that I turned heads in everyday public life, but most people only looked for a couple seconds. This guy was anything but subtle.

I felt Maddie elbow me gently, and saw her flick her gaze to the end of the line, subsequently raising her eyebrows at me suggestively.

I furtively glanced back again, just for reference's sake. Surely enough, his eyes hadn't moved, and to top it off, he smirked as I watched.

I was offended, and let it show on my face.

He was blond, with curly hair that was relatively long for a boy, as it fell around his visage in what could pass as an interpretation of a lion's mane. Golden brown eyes, as I had noticed before, set in a classically handsome face, like a statue of a Greek hero.

I felt myself flush and turned back around to the front. No. I did _not_ admit that he wasn't as hopelessly average as most people. _No_. Never happened.

"You're _blushing_," Maddie pointed out with a cynical half-smile.

Simon appeared to have just tuned in to what his sister was saying. "Why are you blushing?" he said seriously, slipping into Overprotective-Mode.

"No reason!" I insisted wildly, hoping that the color would drain from my normally porcelain cheeks. Sadly, they remained feeling unnaturally warm.

Simon's eyes narrowed violently, and he jerked his head around to where Maddie pointed as if magnetized. "Hmm…" he growled, trying to sound menacing.

"Blond one," Maddie said out of the corner of her mouth.

Simon snarled again as I complained feebly, "_Hey_—"

"_You_," my friend spat in the teenage boy's direction, "what do you think you're playing at?!"

I decided to play the "I-don't-know-who-these-people-are" game with Brittany.

Brittany, however, dropped her façade by turning around to gape at her older brother. "Simon! What are you doing?"

"That… that _guy_ is being creepy to our Carrie," he said, spitting out the word 'guy' as if it was the worst insult he could muster.

"Just _calm down_," she said soothingly, but it didn't appear to be working.

"Calm down?" he echoed furiously. "_Calm down_ when some _male_ is plotting to steal her innocence? I think not!"

Then, _my_ façade dropped, along with my jaw. "_Simon!_ That's going a bit too far." Even if the blond guy was moderately creeping (what with the staring), I preferred to live in a bubble of careless innocence. Where what Simon was insinuating was impossible.

"That's what he'd _want_ you to think."

Maddie gave him a withering look and began to chastise him with Brittany's help for indecent public conduct. I had heard that speech more times than anyone should have to, so I gave a brief once-over to the other teenagers standing with Blond Young Man…

_Flavius_, I decided to call him mentally. Latin for "Blond Man". Latin was my best subject at St. Xavier's, and I had the perpetual A+ average from the last four years to prove it. Math, on the other hand, was a subject that I was honestly dreadful at.

But back to the other teenagers. Four of them total, three boys, one girl. I refused to look at Flavius, but found the other three to be interesting enough. There was Atticus, the boy Simon had been 'flirting' with, who was presumably dressed as a vampire, and then what appeared to be his siblings. They _had_ to be related since they looked so much alike: three olive-skinned, black-haired kids in their late teens with nearly identical, sharply-featured faces. The heavily made-up girl was wearing what I could only assume was a matador costume, but the shorts were too short and I _doubted_ that matadors ran around wearing knee-high, patent leather black stiletto boots. The other guy was taller than Atticus, presumably a year or so older, and had on a long, gray coat that reminded me uncannily of Sherlock Holmes, but his wide-brimmed hat threw it off.

I was suddenly jarred out of my musing by a loud, rough voice shouting, "Alright, out of my way— I _said_, out of my way!"

It was coming from the blue-haired boy, now pushing past angry teenagers to get to the front of the line.

I heard Atticus whisper behind me, "Hey, I think that's him."

"Yeah," one of the other boys acquiesced, also in undertone. "Sure looks like him, at least. We'll have to catch up with him inside."

Did they know that oddly dressed kid? The one who possibly had antifreeze green eyes and shark teeth?

The one who had caused my hallucination?

I heard Atticus sigh flatly and say, "And why do _I_ have to be the vampire, again?"

If there was a reply, I didn't hear it. As _fascinating_ as their conversation was, the blue-haired oddball was being rude again, and thus stole my attention.

"Move it, people!" he yelled resentfully, side-checking unsuspecting kids out of his way. "I'm tired of waiting."

He tried it with a meaty, jock-type dressed as a zombie football player (how mainstream and/or predictable), who said in the unexpected silence, "Oh, yeah? What makes you so special? The rest of us have been waiting _just as long as you have,_ you whiny little bitch-face."

"I said to let me through."

Simon muttered to me, "Can you see what's going on? I'm stuck behind a tall guy in a cowboy hat."

"Shh," I said absently, annoyed because I missed something that happened. The blue-haired boy was currently strolling past the dazed-looking jock, and then went up to the bouncers without any further obstructions.

There were two bouncers, both of whom had slightly dressed up for the occasion. One had on a pair of those gag glasses with the attached eyebrows, fake nose, and mustache, while the other donned a set of pink fairy wings. They looked suitably ridiculous and made me laugh a little, but there were more pressing matters for me to attend to.

They moved closer together to block his way, and I could no longer hear what was going on, much to my nosy irritation. The silence had been rapidly replaced with the usual white noise associated with teenagers, most of them protesting angrily about being cut in line and the nerve of some people.

I saw the bouncer with fairy wings point to the kid's stake accessory and shake his shaved head, the other crossing his arms, but then they got strange, confused expressions on their faces and moved out of his way so he could hop into Pandemonium. I noted the peculiar spring in his step, and knew that something was fishy.

"That's really weird," I commented off-handedly, turning to the other members of my party for confirmation. "Did that seem out-of-the-ordinary to you guys?"

"What, the nerd-ass in the red jacket?" Maddie said, to the accompaniment of my nod.

"There's definitely something weird about that guy," Brittany agreed.

We all looked to Simon for his opinion, but he just shrugged. "I couldn't see anything over the guy in the cowboy hat, anyway."

And standing in line to get into Pandemonium became unsettlingly normal again, like waiting in the eye of a hurricane.

* * *

When we finally got to the front of the line, past the festive bouncers, and into Pandemonium, we were immediately assaulted by a monsoon of fake smoke mixed with the intermingling odors of sweat, perfume, and some kind of cheap incense. Halloween music was blaring from seemingly every direction, pervading into the minds and souls of everyone who heard it until all they could register was, "_they did the mash! They did the monster mash…" _

The place was swarmed with tall kids in bright costumes, almost giving the appearance of a different world entirely, one where mystical creatures cavorted in and out of the fake smoke and made the floor shake, what with all the dancing going on.

And, somehow, I liked it. Then again, I _was_ always one for theatrics.

I could have done without the stench of the place, though.

I then noticed a small, handheld video camera being poked in my face, capturing my reaction. I turned a dazzling smile to the lens. "Hello, Brittany."

"Happy Halloween, Carrie," she said from behind the camera.

"Yes. Happy Tuesday-before-Halloween."

"Happy Halloween, Maddie and Simon!"

"Happy Halloween, Brittany," they said in unison.

Brittany was never without her camera, and had probably been filming for a while without my realizing it. Had she gotten what happened in line? "Hey, Brit-Brit, how long have you been filming?"

The lens invaded the personal bubble of my face again, so I made a steady stream of silly faces while Brittany said, "I turned it on when Simon was overreacting."

Yes! I didn't move to conceal my look of joy. "Did you document the antics of that boy with the red jacket?"

"Yeah, of course."

Maybe I could borrow her camera later, and review the footage—

"Oh my Muhammad!" cheeped a nasally voice, coming from a squat ginger who showed up in front of me. "Wow! I _deff_ didn't expect to see you guys here!"

It was Clary Clare, unfortunately my next-door neighbor (Clares to the left of me, Walkers to the right) and personal antagonist. She had the lovely habit of showing up at the apartment and pounding on my door, demanding to see me, because apparently, we were "best friends" and she couldn't stay away for long. The girl was probably insane, but unfortunately, our mothers _were,_ in fact, best friends. She even went to our school, but thankfully was a year younger, so I didn't have to deal with her much on weekdays.

If there were ever an Obnoxious Contest, Clary would probably win. "Can you guess what I'm dressed as?" she squealed excitedly. I realized that humoring her might make her go away, and so played along.

Her costume, I assumed, was, "Some sort of Hogwarts student?" to which she nodded rapidly and grinned wildly. Her normally vibrant, unnaturally feral red hair was "straightened" to a mass of frizz, and she was wearing a black bathrobe over a white button down shirt and dark gray blazer (both with St. Xavier's logos), paired with a plain gray skirt, white knee socks, and black Mary-Jane shoes. The only tipoff to HP was the Gryffindor scarf around her neck, although it was incorrectly tied into a bow shape. Good grief. I mean, I knew that she was an HP fan like me, but _really…?_

"Well," Clary amended, shifting her substantial weight from foot to foot, "actually, I'm Ginny Weasley. But I'd marry Draco, not Harry." She put a hand to her mouth and giggled, which caused her layered sleeves to droop and, consequently, expose an armful of bracelets.

"Wait a second," Brittany said, putting her camera back into her messenger bag. "One of those bracelets is mine."

"And that's _my_ wristband!" Simon pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," Clary said carefully, her voice essentially tiptoeing around the subject, "about that. I kind of borrowed them."

"I think the correct term is 'stole', bitch," Maddie corrected, glaring down at the ginger.

Clary was a tiny thing, only topping out at around 5'1" or so but making up for it in waist measurement. I was most often the shortest one in a group, being somewhere between 5'3" and 5'4", but could successfully turn my nose up at Clary without even thinking about it, a fact that was extremely gratifying.

Brittany's bracelet, a braided hippie-style leather one that I recognized, was hopelessly trying to accommodate the remarkable girth of Clary's wrist, stretching precariously around it. "You can keep that," Brittany winced, eyes fixed on Clary's freckled flesh spilling onto it from both its top and bottom.

"If it doesn't burst first," Maddie snorted, before her cynical expression melted into a dreamy smile. "Hey, that rhymed."

"Anyway, Clary—" I began in exasperation.

I was about to explain to her that none of us had any particular desire to see her today or _any_ day, but I was promptly cut off by someone yelling from an impressive distance, "CLARISSA _DUMB-ASS_ JUNE CLARE! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? STOP HARASSING OUR NEIGHBORS AND GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE WHERE I CAN KEEP TABS ON IT!"

"But, _Emily_!" Clary yelled back, not nearly as loudly.

"GET OVER HERE!"

It was Clary's older sister by two years, Emily. Emily, although of college age, was still living at home with the ginger and their gossip columnist mother, Cassandra. She mainly hauled Clary out of trouble either out of the goodness of her heart or a sense of embarrassment by association with the girl, and the fact that everyone knew they were related. I suspected the latter, personally.

"Fine," Clary sniffed, pouting, and sulked back to her sister with her metaphorical tail between her legs.

"God, that ginger's obnoxious," Maddie muttered once she was out of earshot, which didn't take very long. The Monster Mash was just fading out, but it remained at an all-consuming volume. I was mildly impressed that we could hear Emily from that distance, especially over the cacophony. But perhaps it wasn't so surprising after all, since Emily _was_ known for her loudness (and craziness, but in a generally positive way).

Then another song started up, and I'll admit, I got an excited expression on my face as I turned to my friends, who were equally as enthralled. We all formed a tight circle and started jumping up and down excitedly. It was "It's Almost Halloween" by Panic at the Disco, also known as the best Halloween song ever, albeit one that wasn't usually played at such parties for whatever reason.

My primary musical loyalty was to the Beatles, who were amazing, but I also really liked Panic, particularly circa _Pretty. Odd_. I had even named my cat after Ryan Ross, as my feline companion was an adorable, brownish Egyptian Mau with huge brown eyes and a high voice.

As we sang along to the music, the thought struck me that it could quite possibly be a good omen for the night. Maybe it would be worth it after all in the end, since we were already enjoying ourselves, despite the unwelcome addition of Clary a few minutes previously and, well, everything else that was weird. Red Jacket, for example. And Flavius.

When the music faded into "Werewolves of London", which made me think of Remus Lupin, we all laughed triumphantly at our good fortune. I said to my friends, "I can't believe they played it!"

"I know!" agreed Maddie in a high-pitched squeal that she got whenever she was elated.

Simon interjected, "And it was perfect timing."

I saw that Brittany had her camera out again, filming the dancing crowd of teenagers briefly and then pointing it back at us. She seemed distracted for a moment, and announced, "I think I see some Naruto cosplayers over there."

Maddie became all business, scanning the area through her glasses. "Really? Where?"

Simon, who had been doing the same, suddenly yelled out, "I see them! In the far corner. It looks like they're doing everything wrong."

The Walkers were obsessed with Japanese culture, particularly Maddie. I wasn't as into it as they were, but even I could enjoy an episode now and then, especially if it was _Ouran High School Host Club_.

"What?" Maddie said. "Then it's our job to show those dumb-asses what they're doing wrong. Come on, Simon." She began marching away with her twin brother in tow, but then added over her shoulder, "Brit, you come, too. We need to capture this on video."

"Hey," I called back in a falsely wounded way, "what am I supposed to do?" I _did_ get lonely easily, but could probably just chat people up until they were done if I had to. It would probably be better than watching the twins lecture cosplayers, anyway.

"Mingle! Talk to people! Find a guy you're actually interested in!"

"Whatever. Have fun," I tried to tell them, although they most likely couldn't hear me anymore.

I looked around at where I was, just for argument's sake. On all sides were teenagers dancing and making fools of themselves, as was the only natural thing to do in such situations. It really did seem like a different world, though, with all the bright outfits and fake smoke. I glanced at the people specifically, looking for the kid with the blue hair. I needed the validation that he existed, almost, and definitely wanted to see if my hallucination was real or not. Unfortunately, I was only met with glimpses of dozens and dozens of costumed teenagers that I'd never met before.

It was hopeless, just standing there. I was on the fast track to boredom but didn't want to join the 'triplets' and their unfortunate victims yet, so I decided to head to the snack table for some pretzels. _Every_ snack table had pretzels, as I knew from experience.

So I carefully weaved my way through the crowd, thankful for my dainty frame that could fit through small spaces without awkwardly bumping into people. That would be a great conversation starter: '_Hello, sorry for crashing into you… No, I wasn't trying to dance.'_ You could never be too careful around teenagers, especially in dimly-lit situations.

Eventually, I made it to my destination, which was definitely not as crowded as the dance floor. On the table, I saw a bowl that was filled with, naturally, _pretzels_, so I took a handful and walked over to a nearby wall to lean against. I picked up one of the pretzels with intent on eating it, and saw that it was shaped relatively like a bat. Well, at least they were sticking to the theme.

Just as I was chewing my last bite of snacks and contemplating whether I should get more, someone appeared from my left and moved in front of me.

And, surely enough, it was that guy from the line. The blond one. _Flavius_.

Startled, I looked up, and found him to be taller than I would have expected. Six feet at least, maybe a little over. And there he was, standing directly in front of me, a bit close for comfort in regards to strangers. I glanced away very quickly, which was hard, considering that he was less than an arm's length away.

Did I have time to escape? I weighed my options, and found them all fruitless, as other people had apparently wanted snack food right after I did, now blocking what would have been a quick exit. Also, my back was to a wall. Great.

"Hello," he said in a low, nearly appealing sort of voice.

"Hello," I said back, looking up at him and trying to appear bored, possibly unconcerned. I was actually panicking slightly, but I was, thankfully, a well-established and award-winning actress at St. Xavier's.

It was then that I noticed his costume. A knight in shining armor. How quaint.

The suit of armor was vaguely interesting, though… It looked oddly real and polished, the tunic with an emblem of a rearing lion—

"I saw you staring at me in line," he told me suddenly, drawing my eyes back up to his face for an instant. He was smirking, which actually didn't look that bad on him…

"I was _not_ staring at you," I corrected indignantly. It must have been the Romantic-literature type of appeal from his costume that was throwing me off and kept distracting me. "_You_ were staring at _me_. Quite creepily, might I add."

"Fine." His smirk grew into a full grin. "What can I say? A beautiful girl catches my eye in line, I go after her." I tried to seem unmoved by the flattery, although part of me was mysteriously pleased. "And I love the dress. The 1960s were far too short. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Possibly." I was in a state of confusion- I found someone that I actually considered attractive, and now he was flirting with me. But did I really want this to happen? Did I _want_ to find a possible significant other at a _club_? Did I even want a possible significant other? When did everything get so darn _perplexing?_ "The '60s were a great era, especially for music."

Flavius nodded. "One of the best. Particularly the British Invasion, in my opinion."

_And_ he agreed with my taste in music? Maybe I was dreaming… "Beatles, Kinks, Stones-"

"You're a Beatles fan?" His whole face had lit up into a brilliant smile, and he inched closer. "But _please_ don't tell me that you're a _Paul_ fan."

"Definitely not." I found myself smiling, then, without even thinking about it. It just sort of… happened. "Well, some of his stuff is passable, but the majority annoys me. I'm more of a Harrison fan, myself."

"So am I. But John's music is great, too."

"John Lennon was a genius," I said, thinking fondly of Brittany and her obsession. "Now, how about your costume?" I was gradually slipping more and more of myself into the conversation, probably because I overcame the initial awkwardness of meeting and talking to a new creeper. I loved talking to people, especially when there were common interests involved.

He shrugged slightly, looking rather dashing— Wait, _what—_ "I consider myself to be a modern-day knight, so why not show it off?"

I snorted. "I assume that's because you slay dragons and rescue maidens daily, right?"

"How could you tell?"

Then someone came up from behind him, someone who was shorter and had black hair. Atticus, I recalled. He said, "Are you flirting again? We've got work to do, and you get more than enough of that, anyway. Come on." Then Atticus looked to me, smiling devilishly. "Sorry for interrupting, sweetheart, but you're probably better off without this one here."

"Hey," Flavius said. "There's no need for that, Attie. I'll be there in a second."

"Alec and Lucy are waiting for you…" Atticus told him, backing off slowly. "So don't be too long with your flirting. You know how Lucille gets sometimes."

"Got it." The look that Flavius was giving his friend was simple: _go away_.

"So that means that you don't have time for sex."

My eyes widened and I blushed, so I coughed to mask it. Still, I caught what Flavius said next, in a very flat tone. "There was no need for clarification."

"Well, you know, _last_ time—"

What a fascinating turn of conversation. You learn something every day, I guess, even if it fits into the 'Too Much Information' category. I tried not to look embarrassed and assumedly failed (as always). That was my one weakness when it came to expressions, which was sad because I got embarrassed rather often.

"_Atticus!_ I said that I got it!"

With an evil laugh, his friend began racing away.

The blond looked back to me once his friend had left, staring at me imploringly through his curiously golden-brown eyes. "Don't listen to a thing he says. But, either way, as much as I've thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, I _do_ have to go now."

"It was nice talking to you." And it actually _had_ been… for a while, at least. Atticus's insinuations were like a broken record in my brain, and made me demurely glance down at the floor for an instant.

"You too. The name's Julian, by the way. What's yours?"

Should I give him a fake name? No, I couldn't do that… "Carrie," I said, hoping I wouldn't somehow regret it.

"Then, Carrie, I dearly hope that we meet again."

With that, Julian turned around and rejoined the crowd of teenagers, leaving me extremely mystified at what had just transpired. I had just had a pleasant conversation with someone- which wasn't too out-of-the-ordinary, even if he was of the opposite gender- but I had actually found him good-looking and hadn't been instantly turned off by one or more of his features. It was a bemusing experience for me. And everything had been going great, until things got awkward.

I needed something to drink. Water, hopefully.

I meandered through the crowd back to the snack table, still lost in thought about that Julian person.

When I got there, I strutted past the bowls of festive snacks and to the drink end of the table. There was a huge basin of what appeared to be punch, which I surveyed warily. I never really liked punch, and there was a likely chance of it being spiked…

Someone appeared from the other side of the table, coming out of the extreme dimness. My eyebrows furrowed, as the mystery person was wearing an Obama mask and a black cape.

"What'll it be?" the person asked, muffled from the mask. Apparently, it was a woman, or at least a man with an extremely feminine voice.

"Um," I said, taken aback and surely sounding intelligent, "do you have any bottled water?" I didn't know if I could trust this strange woman with handling my drink, but a sealed bottle of water would be hard to contaminate.

"No, we ran out. All we have is punch. Would you like some?" she asked cheerfully. From what I could tell, she had one of those high voices that always sounded chipper and breathy.

The fact that it came from behind an Obama mask was incredibly disturbing. "I think I'm alright, actually. Thanks, anyway," I said cordially, backing away a bit. I ducked into a breach from the dense crowd, and instantly spotted Red Jacket Hallucination Boy sneaking around.

There he was, right across the empty space, looking like he was up to something. It was odd that I found him so straightaway, especially since I _couldn't_ a little while earlier. Then again, the club _was_ crowded. Or maybe he had been hiding. Seemed like the sort of odd thing that he'd do.

But now, he was just creeping around and surveying the area. It was then that a tan, dark-haired girl went up to him and slid her arm around his shoulders, whispering something in his ear suggestively. She was wearing a modified matador costume… And I recognized her from the line. Here was Julian's friend. Atticus's sister. So they _did_ know him?

Whilst I watched, surreptitiously making my way back to the pretzels (so as to be stealthy and not-obvious), he nodded exuberantly at her and they began walking together towards the back of the room, where there was a hallway. I didn't know what was in said hallway- bathrooms?- but was pretty sure that they were slinking off, probably to do naughty things.

And _that_ was none of my business, nor did I want it to _be_ my business.

Until I managed to catch a last glimpse of Bad Costume Boy, the bizarre whirling sensation returning. Again, his teeth turned sharp, even from the growing distance, and I was certain that something was definitely wrong. Whether it was with me or him, I couldn't tell, but that only made me want to figure it out sooner.

As if to underscore my resolve, I saw Julian, Atticus, and the latter's brother following them down the hallway, Julian's blond hair catching the strobe light and his knight costume unmistakable.

I abandoned the snack table area completely and, keeping to the edge of the crowd, went after them, assuring myself that I would only stumble across one of the countless bad anime reenactments going on in the building.

It was the only excuse I needed to convince myself that I wasn't making a mistake that I would ultimately regret.

Maybe Obama-woman had slipped something in the pretzels.

* * *

Walking through the hallway was like a scene in an eccentric horror movie. It was dingy and unkempt, stretching towards the thin strip of back wall, where a dirty window hung above a potted tree in a cracked vase. Not very inspiring. My nose wrinkled as I took in the shabby, fading wallpaper that peeled back in some places to expose cracked plaster. My footsteps resonated on the concrete floor with a deadened thump punctuated by the click of my heels, and sent up occasional puffs of dust. The sounds of the music ("This is Halloween", an obvious choice) were half-filtering in and echoing down through the dingy corridor, giving a ghostly aura to it. Other voices were coming through, too, getting increasingly louder as I traveled down the hall.

Who would come here? Didn't Pandemonium have enough money to improve the conditions of their back hall, or did they spend it all on themed pretzels and decorations? Didn't people go to the bathroom back here?

Passing the bathrooms led me to discover an unpleasant odor reeking from them, along with miscellaneous bustling and flushing, which all in turn mixed with the voices from a room down the hall.

Finally, I could make out specifically what they were saying.

"_So_." It sounded like Julian, unless someone had stolen his voice. "_I think it's safe to assume that you're on your own. There aren't any others of your kind here… or are there?"_ When the two of us had been talking, he had been all charm. Now, there was a different quality to his voice, almost as if he was threatening someone…

I stopped dead in the corridor, listening attentively.

"_I don't know what you're talking about_." It was a rough-sounding hiss, with just a touch of resentment and petulance. It wasn't Julian, wasn't Atticus, probably wasn't that girl… So it had to be Stupid Jacket or the guy in the Sherlock coat (AKA "Other Stupid Jacket").

"_Demons, you idiot. You know, your kind?"_ I hadn't heard this voice before, it being higher than the others and more soft-sounding, even if his words were moderately harsh.

Then it hit me. _Demons?_

What the Hades was going on?

"_I… I don't know what you're talking about_," the rough voice spat.

"_It's very simple, you know_," came Julian's voice again, rather arrogantly revelatory, as if disclosing a secret. "_The servants of Satan, come to ruin the planet and destroy humanity. Nothing you shouldn't be familiar with."_

"_Come on_," sighed a girl's low-pitched, halfway-to-Valley-Girl voice. The girl in the matador outfit, probably? "_Stop beating around the bush. Just get rid of it already."_

Why on earth were they discussing demons? Maybe they _were_ cosplaying after all. It would explain why they sneaked into a back room, at least. My original idea upon seeing the blue-haired kid, that he was dressed as something from a weird anime… He had been holding a stake, and Atticus was wearing a Dracula cape. And Julian was a knight, and the girl was a matador... And the other guy was something vague and mismatched… Only in anime could it fit together. Of course.

I inched closer to the door, until it was only a foot or so away.

"_She's right,"_ Atticus said. "_You're wasting time."_

"_I could give you information!"_ suddenly cried the coarse voice. "_I know what happened to Victor Dieudonné!"_

I peeked hesitantly around the door-frame for an instant. They were in the center of a sparse and dirty storeroom. The boy with the electric blue hair was forced to his knees on the ground and was being held down by the girl, who giggled at his comment. Atticus was poised a short distance away, his cold and dark gaze set on Red Jacket, although he cracked a smirk. The boy whose name I didn't know was back even further and was now holding a bow and arrow, the arrow pointed at the kid on the floor. And Julian was strolling around lazily like a lion about to pounce, dangling a long and glowing sword in his hand.

A _sword_? What? I felt bad for Red Jacket. This didn't seem like a very fun scene for him, and was unusually serious for a cosplay.

"So do we," Julian said, turning slightly. From my spot at the doorway, I could see a broad grin on his face, which brought his sharp cheekbones into focus. "He died. End of story. And pretty soon, that's what's going to happen to you."

The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave him an impatient look. "Hurry _up_, Julian. You're taking too long. I've got a date in less than an hour."

"Look, Lucille, this isn't a time for—" said the boy with the bow and arrow, but he was cut off by Stupid Costume.

"Fine," he growled. "Do your worst, Shadowhunters. Like I care."

"Like you _care_?" echoed Atticus. "I don't know, I think that I'd care if someone killed me. What about you, Alec?" he finished, calling over his shoulder to his brother, who pretended not to hear him.

"Now _you're_ beating around the bush," the girl, Lucille, pointed out sourly. "All of you have to stop being naughty boys and just kill it."

"Kill _me_? You only _wish_ that you could even come _close!_" dramatically declared the alleged 'demon'. What a cheesy show. Couldn't they cosplay something (a) better, and/or (b) less melodramatic?

"You're in a pretty position to say that," said Julian. "Since we have you pinned to the ground and you're the only one without a weapon."

"Oh, Shadowhunter," chortled the 'demon'. "You may think that, but I _have_ a weapon!"

"Do you, now?" said Atticus condescendingly, before addressing his friend and siblings. "What is _up_ with this guy?"

"You may scoff, but_ I'll_ be the last one laughing when I'm devouring your lifeless corpse! _That goes for the rest of you, too!_"

Lucille also addressed the group, although she kept her long-nailed fingers pressed into his shoulders. "He's actually kind of funny. Can we keep him?"

Alec answered simply, "No."

This scene was getting weirder and weirder by the minute. And none of them were looking in my direction, but it would still be awkward to be found lurking in a doorway… Why was I there, again…?

"And what weapon?" questioned Atticus. "We already confiscated your little stake thing as soon as we came in and saw you trying to rape Lucy."

"I have a weapon that _no one_ can take from me, especially you little angel-offspring," claimed the 'demon', whose character was annoying me.

Julian said pleasantly, "Fine. Then why don't you show it to us?"

"JULIAN," Alec insisted loudly. "KILL IT."

"I'm getting to that. But he's kind of gotten my curiosity, I'll admit—"

My eyes were trained on the blue-haired guy and, as I watched once more with the accompanying dizziness, his teeth changed again to a mouthful of fangs. He snarled at the others, and I noticed that his eyes had gone back to that strange lime green color. But more disturbing was his face, contorting into something awful and, well, _demonic_—

And it didn't change back after a couple seconds, either.

I couldn't take it anymore, and stepped into the room to figure out what was going on. As soon as I did, the teenagers all turned to look at me, clearly surprised. Oh well, there was no turning back now. But why did I think it was the right idea to eavesdrop in the first place? How was I supposed to get out of this one?

"Sorry for interrupting," I said, aiming for diplomacy. "Thought I heard one of my friends in here." I glanced around the room for effect. "I guess I'll be going, then."

I started to edge towards the doorway, but Julian said, "Carrie?"

"Yes?" He was silent, so I tried to break the tension in the room. Lucille was still holding down the 'demon', and Alec and Atticus hadn't moved, either. They were all staring at me in blatant shock. Far from intimidated, I said, "So, are you all cosplaying, then?"

Alec said, "No." I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Pity.

Atticus spoke up instead, looking at me quizzically. "Why did you assume that we were?"

"Well," I began, organizing my thoughts. "The costumes, you all going into a back room, the strange dialogue…" I jerked my chin at the sword in Julian's hand, whose blade was illuminated with white light. "The… _glowing_ sword… People don't usually carry those around—"

Julian cut off my slight floundering, raising the sword for emphasis. He asked, possibly even more surprised than before, "Wait, you can see that this is glowing?"

"Yes," I carefully replied, not fully understanding. What a silly question… "Why, is it not supposed to?"

"No, it's _supposed_ to. What color do you see?"

This was _really_ turning out to be a weird night. "White…"

Julian glanced back to his companions before looking back at me. "And you can see that it's a sword?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes…" I told the small group. Something was definitely fishy. Then again, they all could be on drugs or something similar… Like the punch, for example.

"Do you see anything else that might be out-of-the-ordinary?" Atticus cut in, likewise addressing me.

"Um," I said, trying to process everything. My gaze darted to Plastic Jacket, still pushed to the floor, his face no longer in my sight. I couldn't tell these teenagers about my hallucinations, could I? They were probably all in my mind's eye, but how could I tell? "Not really."

Atticus and Julian exchanged a long look, which resulted in Atticus shrugging. "She can see your seraph blade, man. I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't telling us everything."

I put on an aloof half-smile. "Well, I should be going now…"

So I began to turn around with intent on leaving, only to catch something out of the corner of my eye. Within an instant, I saw Red Jacket throwing Lucille off him and beginning to spring up. I always had unnaturally quick reflexes, so I turned _back_ to facing the others, seeing everything as if in slow motion.

Sometimes, life is like that in tense situations. Everything slugs by much more slowly, and you become hyper-aware of every crumb of detail. In my opinion, it's the only occasion when time stands still.

I was vaguely aware of my long hair flipping as I turned, of my lips parting in horror and a soundless cry, of the 'demon' suddenly springing faster than I'd ever seen anything move past the others and directly at me. I flinched out of the way instinctively, and then everything sped up and became disconcerting.

And the next thing I knew, I was being roughly gripped by the 'demon', who had caught hold of my hair. I couldn't really tell what was going on, as I was kind of focused on clawing him off of me with my lengthy nails, but I was aware of the others saying things and my captor responding with a terrible laugh that echoed through the room. I squirmed around as well as I could in such a small amount of time, but the guy was like iron. I wasn't even thinking coherently, and was just concentrating on breaking away without tearing out all of my hair, as hopeless as it was seeming. For once, my long tresses weren't a glorious advantage to all aspects of my life. I hadn't quite factored in 'potential kidnapping'.

Then I heard my name called. "Carrie!" It was Julian, and I instantly stopped fidgeting and looked up. I saw him walking towards me purposefully, brandishing his glowing sword, with his friends flanking him. "Just hold still. I'll get you soon enough, and you'll be fine. Trust me. We're professionals."

The 'demon' laughed again, and I tried to elbow him in the gut unsuccessfully. "Ignorant Shadowhunting children. You won't be able to get to _me_ without going through your small friend here!"

"Carrie, hold still," Julian repeated, so I frowned at him. I couldn't help it. He next addressed Red Jacket. "What you just said is incredibly doubtful, by the way, so I suggest that you play nice and accept your fate."

Alec threw his hands in the air and groaned. "Julian! Stop talking to it already! And now you've brought a pedestrian into this. Look! She's terrified, and you're just dragging it out for longer than it has to be."

"I'm not terrified," I tried to say in indignation, although Julian interrupted me.

"I'm _getting_ to that, Alec." He took another few steps forward, his expression growing increasingly serious and his knight costume jingling slightly. "Last chance, demon. Let her go and maybe I'll consider killing you more directly, instead of prolonging your impending death."

The 'demon', who I was beginning to suspect was an _actual_ demon after all in some way, yanked me closer in response. I jammed one of my heels into his foot, but he, unfortunately, didn't seem to notice. "Impending death?" he chuckled darkly. "I think _not_, you silly little child. You don't even know how to _use_ that weapon you wave around so _gleefully!"_

"Really," laughed Atticus. "Are you willing to test that theory?"

Julian raised his sword in front of us, chain mail clanking again. "Last chance." I heard the demon-boy hiss, and saw Flavius's eyes flicker to me. "Remember to stay _very still_."

"I'm working on it," I said cynically, genuinely surprised that I was handling everything so well. It was quite possibly because my thought process had temporarily stalled, since I was definitely keeping cool. Hades, I didn't even fully grasp what was going on.

Either way, Julian flashed a quick smile at me, and transitioned immediately into killing Red Jacket.

And, before I could react, I was propelled forward out of the demon's hold- he must have shoved me out of the way- and thrown to the side. Whilst I flew towards the concrete, I tried to twist around so as to land on my back and lessen the likely damage to my person. However, I never reached the floor.

Between one blink and the next, I found myself in the arms of another person, distantly pondering whether this was to become the norm. "Careful, now," said someone into my ear. "Are you alright?"

I glanced over my shoulder and flinched a little. Naturally, it was that Julian. "I'd be better if you would kindly let go of me." I saw Alec toss Atticus a dagger, and said Atticus advancing on the demon. "And don't you have work to do?"

I don't think I'll ever be able to explain exactly why, but somehow, I felt more uncomfortable in Julian's arms than the demon's, in a way. Maybe it was because the demon had been all business- you know, holding me hostage- whereas that Flavius person was being more… familiar. Perhaps Simon had been right about him…

He slackened his grip ever so slightly. "What, no thanks for rescuing you? I'm offended." There it was again, the element of flirtation. According to Maddie, I had a naturally 'flirty' personality, the likes of which I was trying to control at that time for obvious (and numerous) reasons.

Somehow, I was left speechless. I just couldn't think of a way to respond. There was a resulting silence for all of two seconds, and I was _very_ conscious of the young man who had yet to completely let go of me.

Fortunately, it was soon ended by Atticus, who yelled out, "God damn it, Julian! What did I say before about flirting?" He looked a bit roughed up, as did Alec. They took turns in trying to attack the demon, who was still standing and occasionally lashed out at them with his nails that had, at some point, grown into claws.

Lucille grinned, "Yeah, Julie, that's supposed to be _my_ thing." She didn't seem to be participating in the fight as much as her brothers, instead standing a couple paces behind and carrying the bow Alec had been holding earlier.

I edged away from Julian, and he began jogging back in their direction. "Well, if you all would stop humoring it and actually get to dispensing heavenly justice any time soon…"

I breathed a sigh of relief that he had moved away. That Flavius was one weird guy. Of _course_, it would be my luck for the first person I ever really found attractive to be a complete nutcase. A _forward_ nutcase, at that.

But as I watched him charge up to my former assailant, I had to admit that there was some sort of grace about it. Something fluid and natural, despite the heavy-looking knight costume and the barbaric nature of it all. Something almost like a lion.

What was I _doing_? Such thoughts had the potential to be dangerous. No, no, no, and _no_.

Flavius _was_ quick, though, and clearly the most talented fighter of the bunch. It wasn't that the others were bad, at least from what I'd seen, but he just seemed to have a knack for it.

I looked away as he personally 'dispensed heavenly justice', averting my eyes when I saw his sword moving into a clear kill shot. I'd never really been a fan of overtly gory things, and had the habit of leaning into Maddie's or Simon's shoulder whenever something like that came on television or in a movie. I never leaned on Brittany, though, because that would just be inexplicably awkward, and she would freak out. Brittany didn't like being touched.

I heard the squelch of blood, and the enormity of what was going on finally made its way into my lagging thought process. Whatever that 'demon'-thing was, it had just been holding me hostage, and had then proceeded to begin dying at the hands of Alec, Atticus, and especially Julian.

My first thought was: _This can't be legal._

Then: _Did I just witness a murder?!_

Following that: _Or was it an execution…?!_

And again: _This _can't _be legal._

I took a couple tentative steps forward, witnessing the boy's strange costume turning as green as his eye color, lime-colored liquid- could it be _blood?_- leaking out from his chest and spreading into a puddle. His eyes were closed, and I wondered fearfully if he was dead already.

Atticus knelt down next to him, saying cheekily, "You still have that secret weapon, demon boy?"

And, surprising me greatly, his eyelids fluttered open to reveal a clouded yet resentful (and very green) glare. "_You'll_ never get to see it."

Atticus let out a string of laughs, saying to everyone, "Do you hear it? It's still holding on to that stupid idea."

It appeared that the demon-whatever wasn't going to go silently. "That _stupid idea_ will be your _downfall,_ angel-child."

"Sure it will. Now seems like a good time to dispose of all of us, don't you think? Prove it, if you're so smart."

The demon shut his eyes again for longer, and then said, "At least I know what blood runs through my veins—"

"-or is on the floor right now," cut in Alec.

"-_what blood runs through my veins!_" the demon emphatically repeated, ending in a full-body shudder that lasted several seconds. "_You_ can't say the same. _Any_ of you in this _room! That means all of you!_"

The room was silent for a moment. "Give my regards to Satan," Julian said conversationally, breaking the quiet. "Your _dark prince_. You'll be seeing him soon enough."

Lucille said, "Me too. And tell him that I think that horns and a forked tail are _so_ six hundred years ago."

I felt like a ghost, invisibly taking in everything around me. By not participating in conversation, it gave me the chance to reconcile myself with what was transpiring. For once, not being the center of attention was a good thing for me.

"_May the Fallen take you all_," the demon said finally, drawing a rattling breath and shutting his eyes. Oddly enough, I could tell that that breath had been his last, and that he was now dead.

But… he seemed to be decomposing already.

It was subtle at first, his skin tightening and shrinking back and such, but then all the color drained completely, the green blood dried and disappeared on the floor, and his skin rotted away to an oddly shaped skeleton. It was different from the human variant, especially the shark teeth, but I could scarcely get a good look before the bones themselves turned into piles of dust.

I was watching it all with my mouth open and had, at some point, knelt down next to what had formerly been the alleged demon. Either I was officially insane, which was probable, or I was caught up in something _way_ out of my control. Whichever it was, I decided that I deserved an explanation.

I rose to my feet, ankles shaking faintly, and found the others acting like nothing had happened and whispering to each other in a corner. I placed my hands on my hips, and accosted them. "What just happened?"

Julian gave a questioning look to the others, to which Alec shook his head furiously. "You can't. No."

But Lucille said with a hair flip, "I vote yes." What were they going on about now?

That left Flavius staring at Atticus, the apparent tiebreaker, who just half-shrugged. "Your decision, man."

"Hello," I said, quite cognizant of the fact that I was pushing obnoxiousness, "I'm still here."

Julian strode up to me, saying, "I'm sure that what you just saw was traumatic for you." I said nothing, as that was just pointing out the obvious. "But I'll have you know that it's of very little consequence to your person, and it would be in your best interest to forget everything."

"Would it, now?" I crossed my arms and gave him my _seriously?_-face.

"Well, yes. You've never seen anything like that before, have you?"

I delivered in a monotone, "Not really. I've never seen anyone killed, if that's what you mean." Then I sighed, changing my approach. Sarcasm probably wasn't going to get me anywhere, for once. "But riddle me this. Was he really a demon, or were you just saying that?"

I'd always had an unnatural obsession with the occult. Mythology especially, but the whole concept of ghosts and/or demonic energy had always fascinated me.

Julian said at length, "There's more to this world than most people think. I'll leave it at that."

His words sent a shiver of excitement down my spine. I had always suspected that, but I couldn't just believe him without any proof. "And your evidence? Besides what just happened, of course."

But then I heard some loud calls echoing from the hallway. "Carrie! Are you back here?"

I groaned. "Oh, no…" Looked like I wasn't getting any real explanations tonight, and was about to enter a messy situation. Even so, I strolled over to the doorway, stuck my head out, and looked down the hall. "I'm in here."

Maddie, Simon, and Brittany had incidentally been racing down the dirty corridor, but stopped when they saw me. Maddie yelled, "What the fuck, bitch? Why the hell are you back there?"

"I was on my way to the bathroom and found some cosplayers," I said, weighing my next move. I could invite the 'triplets' into the back room and deal with them _and_ the odd group, but I could also pretend that nothing happened and just leave with the Walkers. That appeared to be the best option, I decided. "One sec," I told them, ducking back into the room for an instant. I said to the four teenagers (looking at Julian, specifically), "Sorry, but I have to go now."

"But you _can't_ go!" said Atticus, looking dumbstruck. "Julian, don't let her leave!"

Ignoring him and not bothering to think about anything too much, I turned the corner of the doorway once more and took off sprinting down the hall. I had always been a fast runner, but my endurance was terrible. Thankfully, I cleared the length of the hallway within a few seconds.

"Alright, shall we go?" I asked my companions, surreptitiously herding the three of them out of the corridor in case we were being followed. I _really_ didn't want to deal with any more weirdness that night.

Maddie tried to edge away from my ushering, but I was resilient. "Whoa, Carrie. Why are you being so pushy?" she wondered as I successfully guided the 'triplets' back into the main room of Pandemonium.

I responded half-truthfully, "I'm getting kind of tired. What time is it?"

Simon consulted his watch, shrugging slightly. "It's almost eleven."

"Then let's go!" I enthused. "Come on." It was time for me to lead by example, so I did just that. I pushed my way into the crowd of dancing teenagers, confident that the others would follow me. And follow they did, albeit a tad suspiciously.

Once we had reached a clearing, I glanced over my shoulder to see the other group coming out of the hallway far behind us, Julian at the head. _Ugh_.

And suddenly, we were close to the door, and… The song changed. A familiar and short riff, and then…

_It's astounding… Time is fleeting… Madness takes its toll…_

"OH MY GOD IT'S THE TIME WARP!" Simon and Maddie shrieked in unison, beginning to dance wildly around. Brittany, of course, had out her camera again, and was filming them.

I was torn. Rocky Horror was a classic, and the Time Warp was one of my favorite dance crazes. But… We had to leave. I yawned hugely, and said loudly, as we were in a particularly loud area again, "We should really be going soon. 'Soon' as in 'now'."

"After this song!" Maddie yelled, cavorting around with her twin and sister.

I looked back across the crowd to where I'd last seen the 'cosplayers', and saw Atticus jumping enthusiastically into the dance, Lucille not far behind.

"Why don't we just _watch the movie_ tomorrow night instead?" I suggested extemporarily. "We can have a Halloween movie marathon."

Just then, some male bumped into Simon, meanwhile sloshing some punch out of his plastic cup. He was wearing a neon green corset, which was disconcerting. I didn't know that boys could even _wear_ corsets. Either way, he whooped, "Donnie Darko, eh? Awesome, man!" and gave Simon a high-five. He must have also seen Maddie, since he next turned to her with his fist ready for bumping. "And there are two of them! Double-wicked-awesome!" He then drained the remainder of his punch and threw the cup over his shoulder. He put both of his fists into the air, yelling, "WOO! This place is _awesome!"_ and took off running away, bumping into several people. Now I was _sure_ that the punch was drugged and/or spiked.

Strangely, that boy gave me inspiration. I said to my friends, "Rocky Horror and Donnie Darko tomorrow. What do you say?"

Brittany said, "Sounds fine to me," which seemed to sum up their opinions.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief and we all moved towards the door. A young, brightly-colored Asian couple nearly plowed into me (they were too busy making out to notice anyone else, I guess), but Maddie thankfully pulled me out of the way just in time.

When we stepped outside, I noticed that the temperature had definitely dropped from where it was earlier. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my unzipped leather jacket, saying, "Well, at least we don't have far to walk."

"Yeah, you can say that again," remarked Simon, already in a sour mood from the chilly air. "And I think that guy in the green corset stole my slinky!"

"Why the hell would you let him steal your slinky?" Maddie wondered. "He was _obviously_ drunk."

"I did not _let_ him," Simon corrected airily. "I just _think_ that he's the most likely person to steal it from me."

We crossed one street and waited to cross the other and consequently begin the trek back to our row of apartments on Stagfoot Lane, when I was struck with the intense urge to look behind me in the direction of Pandemonium. I resisted it for a little while before the suspense nearly killed me.

So I did look over my shoulder back towards Pandemonium, and saw what was clearly Julian, standing there in front and watching me leave. And he must have noticed my turn, because I saw him grin broadly and drop a lazy salute at me.

That was preposterous. _I_ saluted people when I felt like being arrogant. That was _my_ thing.

I mockingly saluted him back, making sure to give it a healthy dose of haughtiness. Maybe that would make him stop creeping. Hopefully he wouldn't follow me home…

I turned sharply on my heel and strutted to my usual spot at the front of the group, as the other three had surpassed me several steps before and hadn't bothered to slow down (thankfully, because then they would have seen my exchange with Julian).

That night had certainly turned out radically different from anything I could have ever imagined. Luckily, Brit had captured some of it on her video camera, so I had evidence- hopefully- that it wasn't all an illusion.

I made a mental note to get myself a long-awaited glass of water. God knows I needed it.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, that was that. How did it go? Leave a review so I can know if I'm on the right track! What do you think of the edited characters, Brittany and Atticus, the setup of the scene, etc? Is it easy to understand? Did you even LIKE it? Reviews make me feel warm and fuzzy inside and prompt me to write faster. Chapter Two will be interesting, and probably shorter.**

**Review, please?  
**

**Lots of love,  
I Suffer From Hubris  
**


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